The Jazz - discussion, recommendations, shit, cat

[LemonMelon]

Jazz has got to be one of the most inaccessible genres out there, which I find a bit odd, considering I can use jazz music for nearly anything. I listen to it primarily as a study tool, but it rewards focus just as easily. The obstacle that people seem to run into as they learn more about the genre is an inability to discern between compositions, and I figure that a thread created with the expressed purpose of discussing such things might help people in their journey to becoming the unyieldingly cool jazz aficionado we all wish to be.

What some people may not realize is that the umbrella genre of "jazz" is probably about as dense with subgenres as metal, if not more so. I have never been able to get into free jazz, though I don't mind Eric Dolphy so much. Cool jazz is more my speed...it has such amazing atmosphere.

A few of my favorite jazz tunez:

YouTube - Right Off, Pt. 1

YouTube - Chameleon Pt. 1

YouTube - Charles Mingus - The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady - Track A, Solo Dancer

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

 

[LemonMelon]

Karl Malone judged that NCAA slam dunk competition the other night. He's into short guys.

 

[LJT]

YouTube - Brad Mehldau - Paranoid Android (Part 1)

Brad Mehldau solo or as a trio is pretty good, especially the covers, his Paranoid Android is appropriately epic at 18 minutes but worth every second of it.

There is also little better than some Duke Ellington.

 

[iron yuppie]

The obstacle that people seem to run into as they learn more about the genre is an inability to discern between compositions...

This is quite accurate, I think, especially when talking about the differences between modal and hard-bop, for instance. I've listened to a lot of jazz, and the distinction between those sub-genres is still lost on me. I think, however, that the following five albums break down the fundamental directions that has jazz followed quite well:

Thelonious Monk, Genius of Modern Music, Volumes 1 & 2: one the progenitors of abstract song structures and unconventional melodies

Miles Davis, Kind of Blue: the culmination of the atmospheric but rousing tradition of Ellington, Armstrong, and Parker, among others

Charles Mingus, Blues & Roots: the best encapsulation of the blues influence in jazz

Ornette Coleman, Free Jazz: the progenitor of the "avant" category that Coltrane would come to dominate

Herbie Hancock, Head Hunters: along with Bitches Brew and On the Corner, the encapsulation of the funk-rock-jazz "fusion"

 

[LemonMelon]

Charles Mingus, Blues & Roots: the best encapsulation of the blues influence in jazz

Hell yes. If anyone dares peg jazz as cold and wholly intellectual, the passion in that album melts any cynicism. It's amazing.

 

[cobl04]

I will, in due time, get started on the ex-CELL-ent! list that iYup sent me.

 

[lazarus]

Me and my Droogs are gonna come up with some suggestions, dig?

 

[The Sad Punk]

My favourites are Charlie Parker and Duke Ellington. There's a lot of pre-50s swing stuff I love that could fall under here too, I guess. Gene Krupa almost made me want to be a drummer.

Spoiler

But I ain't ever gonna see the Nile anyhow.
YouTube - The Best Worst Record Review of All Time

 

[LemonMelon]

Charlie Parker

My grandfather jamming with Charlie Parker and a band my father was in being asked to open for Loverboy are the cool family anecdotes I have to share. Clearly, there's a downward slope happening here, so not much is being expected of me. That won't stop me from doggedly asking Loverboy to open for me once I hit it big.

Listened to The Shape of Jazz to Come by Ornette Coleman tonight. The melodies weren't anything to write home about, but Charlie Haden's performance on double bass is remarkable.

 

[iron yuppie]

Listened to The Shape of Jazz to Come by Ornette Coleman tonight. The melodies weren't anything to write home about, but Charlie Haden's performance on double bass is remarkable.

That's an interesting assessment. I have always thought that the album is adept at balancing melody with off-kilter song structures. Anyways, Ornette has a two-volume set called At the Golden Circle, Stockholm that really emphasizes the rhythm section. It's a bit more swinging than his other work. I would highly recommend it.

 

[LemonMelon]

For an album pegged as avant-garde, it was certainly more tuneful than Dolphy, and even some Coltrane I've come across. Just, yeah, the rhythm section was so fucking good that it was all I focused on. Conveniently, the mixing dedicated the right channel specifically to that.

 

[iron yuppie]

For an album pegged as avant-garde, it was certainly more tuneful than Dolphy, and even some Coltrane I've come across.

Yes, definitely. Coltane's Ascension and other late-period stuff like Kulu Se Mama are about as dissonant as anything that I have ever heard. I assume that you have heard Out to Lunch - how did you feel about it?

 

[LemonMelon]

I would like to hear Out To Lunch a second time before giving any solid criticisms. I enjoyed it quite a bit, but it seemed a overly dissonant and aimless in spots. Hardly bad, just not really my forte, which is why I'm trying to deepen my free jazz experience with Ornette Coleman. Is it true that Free Jazz is literally two different takes playing at once in their respective channels? That's ballsy.

 

[Screwtape2]

My top 5 jazz albums of all-time for recommendation purposes:

1. Bitches Brew by Miles Davis
2. Romantic Warrior by Return To Forever
3. The Inner Mounting Flame by Mahavishnu Orchestra
4. Light As A Feather by Return To Forever
5. Birds of Fire by Mahavishnu Orchestra

Also worth mentioning are Save Our Children by Pharoah Sanders, Aura by Miles Davis and honestly anything by Sun Ra is worthwhile. My taste is slanted towards Jazz Fusion but that's the best jazz in my opinion.

 

[Salome]

5 jazz albums I've listened to the most the past year

Rudresh Mahanthappa - Kinsmen
Don Ellis - Electric Bath
Mike Stern - These Times
Horace Silver - Song for my Father
Frank Zappa - Hot Rats

 

[If you shout...]

Incredible:

 

[If you shout...]

Also incredible:

The Khan Jamal Creative Arts Ensemble's Drum Dance to the Motherland

 

[iron yuppie]

I was listening to Mingus's Oh Yeah today, and it reminded me that the guy is responsible for some of the most compelling song titles in music history. Cases in point: "Hog-Callin' Blues," "Oh Lord Don't Let Them Drop That Atomic Bomb on Me," and "The Shoes of the Fisherman's Wife Are Some Jive-Ass Slippers."

 

[iron yuppie]

Yesterday, I found what must be the best jazz record store in the country: Jazz Record Mart in downtown Chicago. The selection is varied and massive. There was a great deal of stuff there that I never knew existed.

 

[If you shout...]

Fuckin' a.

 

[If you shout...]

Did I not mention that one? If not, many apologies.

 

[iron yuppie]

You did - that was a great recommendation, Shouter. The word "found" was not accurate on my part. I could have spent hours there.

 

[LemonMelon]

Digging Idle Moments by Grant Green right now. Very smooth.

 

[If you shout...]

I could have spent hours there.

I haven't been there in quite a while, and mostly because of this. It's too much, and I have neither the money nor the willpower necessary for a fulfilling visit.

 

[If you shout...]

The Wire: Adventures in Modern Music: Article

 

[cobl04]

I could have spent hours there.

This describes me at Amoeba, in San Fran & Hollywood. Was at the Hollywood store for about five hours and I could have easily stayed for another five.

Downloading Juju and In a Silent Way today.

 

[iron yuppie]

Downloading Juju and In a Silent Way today.

Great choices! Let me know what you think.

 

[cobl04]

Will do! Just listening to Deluge now... love that tune.

I'd also love to hear your thoughts on Steely Dan's Aja if you have got around to it!

 

[cobl04]

Thoroughly enjoyed In a Silent Way. Not what I was expecting, in that both halves are quite energetic at times. Really loved the interplay between the horns and the light drumming, the guitar, the bass. I think I'm really gonna enjoy discovering more jazz.